Sunday, July 3, 2011

Like
other great writers, R abindranath was attracted to the challenge of
the short story, and some of his creations have been compared to
lyric poems. They meant a lot to the the author also, as we learn from a
letter of his from Shelidah, a village he lived in when
looking after the family property:

If
I do nothing else but write short stories I shall be happy, and I hope to make a few
readers happy too. The main cause of the happiness is that the people about
whom I write become my companions: they are with me when I am confined
to my room in the rains, and on a sunny day they move about with me
on the bright banks of the Padma. Today, since early morning a
petulant little girl named Giribala has entered my imaginary world.

(This excerpt is quoted by Nirmal Kumar Sidhanta in his appreciation
for the Tagore Centenary volume published by the Sahitya Akademi in
1961).

KumKum,
Padmanabha, and Soma come to the end of their reading of Tagore
short stories with a third tranche consisting of the following
stories selected by Padmanabha: Sampatti Samarpan, Kabuliwala, Atithi,
Prayaschitta, Anadhikar Prabesh.

Read
on below —

KumKum

1.
Sampatti SamarpanIt
is a sad story of an old man, Jogyanath, who was a penny- pincher. He
couldn't get along with his son, Brindaban and his wife. Brindaban
did not earn anything, but enjoyed a high style of living for which
he was dependent totally on the father. The young son and the old
father often fought over money matters. When Brindavan's wife became
gravely ill, he called in a Kaviraj to treat his wife. The Kaviraj's
fee was high, so also was the cost of the medicines. The old father
guessed what the treatment could cost, and got rid of him with this
reasoning:"কেন,
ঔষধ
খাইয়া কেহ মরে না?
দামী
ঔষধ খাইলেই যদি বাঁচিত তবে
রাজা-বাদশারা
মরে কোন্‌ দুঃখে!
যেমন
করিয়া তোর মা মরিয়াছে,
তোর
দিদিমা মরিয়াছে,
তোর
স্ত্রী তাহার চেয়ে কি বেশি
ধুম করিয়া মরিবে।"

Obviously,
the old man's argument did not go down well with the son. He
immediately left home. Jogyanath was rather pleased that his son left
home and the daughter-in-law was dead, for he could save some
money now. But he begun to pine for his four-year-old grandson
Gokulchandra. The child's upkeep would only cost a negligible
amount.

The second part tells us how accidentally the old
grandfather met up with his grandson when the lad was roaming as a
vagabond in the old man's neighborhood. They did not recognise each
other. Moreover, Gokulchandra now went by a new name: Nitai Pal. It
was Nitai's manerisms which brought back memories of his little
grandson. He was charmed by the young lad, and took him home.

One
day, a rumour reached the old man that a certain Damodar Pal was
looking around for his lost son. The news made the young lad also
very worried, for he did not wish to be found so soon. The old man
got concerned, because he didn't wish the lad to be taken away
either. So the old man promised to hide the lad where none could
ever find him.

The old man took the boy down to a deep cave
where he saved his wealth. Once the boy was inside the dark cave, the
old man removed the ladder and securely closed the opening of the
cave. Thus he not only lost his son and grandson, he lost his mind
too!

Though it is a fictitious narrative, the tragedy is real.
The beauty of this story lies deep under the veneer. Once revealed, a
reader is numb with sadness. All men need human love, to function
normally. Love is reciprocal. The miser Jogyonath loved his money,
but that did not help him much. During the absence of his only son
and only grandson, gradually he lost his bearings. He craved for
someone whom he could love. In the end, he found that precious
someone, very accidentally, though. Fearing the faintest possibility
of losing him again, he shut him up along with his other useless
treasures! 2.
KabuliwalaThis
is great favorite among Tagore's short stories. Tapan Sinha's movie
versions (Bengali and Hindi) took the story even farther to reach the
hearts of people accross India, and beyond.

This
is a story of love and friendship between a five year old little
girl, Mini and a young Kabuliwala, Rhamat. The story is told by the
father of Mini. Here is a paragraph from the story that tells us the
uncomplicated friendship these two odd individuals used to share, and
the seemingly inane jokes that made them laugh.এই
দুটি বন্ধুর মধ্যে গুটিকতক
বাঁধা কথা এবং ঠাট্টা প্রচলিত
আছে-- যথা,
রহমতকে দেখিবামাত্র
আমার কন্যা হাসিতে হাসিতে
জিজ্ঞাসা করিত,
'কাবুলিওয়ালা,
ও কাবুলিওয়ালা,
তোমার ও ঝুলির ভিতর
কী।'

Tagore continues the story
in this simple tenor, keeping the five year old at the center and her
Kabuliwala friend keeps her affection. The only adult voice we hear is
that of the father, mostly as a narrator.

Take the apparent
serious scene where Kabuliwala's hands are tied up and he was being
led to the jail for his crime. Suddenly there appears Mini, and a
mischievious smile brightens up Kabuliwala's face. Mini asks him if
he was going to "Shashurbari." He answers back in the same
vein "I'm on my way there."

What a beautiful and
poignant scene it is, the Kabuliwala, after a gap of many years,
meets Mini on her wedding day. But, there is a disconnect! Demure
Mini, in her bridal attire, is an adult. The Kabuliwala is a stranger
to her now. On the other hand, the Kabuliwala is still clinging to
the past. He can't recognize Mini in her present state. Yet, he makes
a weak attempt to strike up the old conversation and says: 'খোঁখী,
তোমি
সসুরবাড়ি যাবিস?'
Alas! It fails to evoke the desired response from Mini. Probably, his
mind races back to his home,looking for his own five year old
daughter, who too must be a grown woman now.

Tagore has
brought out the universal appeal of this story about a father's love
for his daughter in the following lines:

3.
AtithiTarapada,
a young Brahmin lad is the central character of this story. His is an
elusive character. More of a spirit than a person in flesh and blood.

Tarapada is
attractive, lovable, and smart, with myriad skills to charm whoever
he comes into contact, but he passionately guards his freedom – and
eludes all attempts at domestication.The affection and care
Tagore spent in creating Tarapada will not escape the attention of
the reader. All the other characters in the story were liberally used
by him to demonstrate the contrast with Tarapada, and bring out the
ethreal quality of his character. Tarapada remains beyond the pale
of true life. Tagore was quite taken by this imaginary, free spirited
lad, and you encounter him prancing along here and there in the body
of his work.

All
arrangements were in place to entrap Tarapada in a marriage with
Charu, daughter of Motibabu and Annapurna. Here is what happens in
the end:

Once
again, Tagore used his supreme skill here as a writer of lyrical
prose. This story like many others ends like a poem. That's what
impressed me the most.

4.
PrayaschittaOne
has to read Tagore's short story Taraprasannar
Kirti and
Prayashchitta
together, and in that order too. For, the character of Anathbandhu,
protagonist of Pryashchitta
is an extension of Taraprasanna, the protagonist of Taraprosanannar
Kirti. Both these
men share the same trait: a very high, unrealistic estimate of
themselves; they deemed it below their intellectual status to work
and earn their living, expecting others to provide for them.

Both had
wives, who were totally beguiled by their husbands. The wives
believed and had unfailing trust in their husbands and their superior
intellectual prowess. These women surrendered their own judgement,
completely.

Taraprasanna's
wife Dakshayani was convinced that she was in no way worthy of her
husband's genius; her self-effacing, impractical, dreamy husband! She
lovingly took care of his life and tried to stage-manage his career
as a writer as well.

Similarly,
Anthbandhu's wife Bindhhyabasini (denizen of the Mt. Vindhya) was a
blind admirier of her 'genius' of a husband, and considered herself
most fortunate to be his wife. Never did she seek any proof to
substantiate her faith in him. In her case, her husband did not like
her name, and thought she was not good enough for him.

Bindhhyabasini
obeyed, indulged and pandered to Anathbandhu without question. It was
at his behest that she stooped low to steal money from her most
generous, loving parents.

Prayashchitta is
a longer story, and Tagore had ample scope to work and develop this
character. In Taraprasanna we only felt his selfish streak; Anathbandhu is a ego-centric and selfish. He
demanded everything be done his way. He needed his wife for her claim
to her parents' wealth.

Love is an emotion which is based on
sharing, but requires some daring as well. Both these stories are
starkly devoid of love. The two men were far too selfish to love any
one. The besotted women were caring beyond measure and found their
life-satisfaction in that.

It is a beautifully written story.
Once again, I was so charmed by Tagore's play with words. How easily,
here and there, he raises the register of his writing, and it reads
like a poem! There are so many tadbhav
words he so freely used in this story, which are beautiful, and
expressive – sonorous words. Why did they disappear from our common
vocabulary today, I wonder.

Another
fabulous aspect of this story is the subtle humour which intersperses
it in describing a person, his/her thoughts, emotions or as simple
fillers of the text. Here are a few examples:

5.
Anadhikar PrabeshThis
is unique among the 15 stories selected; it is far out of the
ordinary.

Is it an Allegory, or is it a Satire, I pondered.
Finally, I decided, yes, it is a biting satire. One of the
meanings of the word satire is: trenchant wit, irony, or sarcasm used
to expose and discredit vice or folly (http://webster.com/
)

This is exactly what Tagore, the reformer, wished to achieve
through a short, but potent story. A good part of it is an elaborate
description of Joikali, the protagonist of the story. Thus Tagore
diverted the readers' attention to secondary matters which are full
of wit, irony even sarcasm, while he worked out his design .

Here is a
quote from the story to bolster my point that Anadhikar Prabesh is a
perfect satire: